(CNN) – Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey appeared to leave the door open to at the very least recommend U.S. ground troops in Iraq in the future at a Senate hearing Tuesday.

"My view at this point is that this coalition is the appropriate way forward; I believe that will prove true but if fails to be true and there are threats to the United States, then of course I go back to the President and make a recommendation that may include the use of U.S. military ground forces," Dempsey testified.

But the Obama administration has said repeatedly there will be no boots on the ground, no U.S. combat troops, in this operation against ISIS.

"The President is just flat not telling the truth. We already have boots on the ground there," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma.
Obama "knows we have to have boots on the ground. Let's admit we're in a war," said Inhofe, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "You don't win a war by not fighting."

For more of our interview with Sen. Jim Inhofe check out the video above.

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